Household Toilets in Urban Settings

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Why Household Sanitation?

We harp a lot about bringing sanitation all the way to people’s homes. Why?

First, because that’s what people want. Everyone wants to fit a clean, fresh-smelling toilet in their house. A toilet in your house- it’s convenient, it’s safe. You can have friends and family over and they have a toilet to use. A toilet is also a status symbol. What does every rich person in every country in the world have in their house? A toilet.

Getting sanitation to people’s houses is also the best way to deliver the health and environmental benefits we strive for. Public or community toilets are often dirty or broken down. They may have long lines, or be closed at night. Even if they’re open at night, it’s usually unsafe to walk there at night, especially for women. That means that people don’t always use public toilets, and that means lots of waste still ends up where it shouldn’t- in the alley, on the roof, in the drains and rivers – where it can cause disease and contamination. People need effective sanitation at home, so they can use it whenever they want or need to.

Of course, putting a toilet in someone’s home is only a good idea if it’s clean, if it blocks flies and odors, and if there’s a reliable, hygienic way to remove the waste from the home. And people have to love their toilet, or they won’t use it. We’re on it.